topic Re: How much do people normally pay for Amazon Web Services? in ArcGIS Enterprise Questions

How much do people normally pay for Amazon Web Services?

AdrianWelsh — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 15:47:03 GMT

I have not seen a good amount on what people normally pay for these types of things. I know everything is relative, but what are good numbers to look at? Are there some cases where people 'play the game' right and not pay hardly anything at all?

I am just curious on whether or not it's worth looking into these types of services for a small company with no real web service (we are currently [going to be] using a public-facing PC as the faux web server).

Tag: Cloud Computing ArcGIS Server on Microsoft Azure

Re: How much do people normally pay for Amazon Web Services?

AdrianWelsh — Wed, 27 Jul 2016 20:25:32 GMT

hopeful bump?

Re: How much do people normally pay for Amazon Web Services?

XanderBakker — Wed, 27 Jul 2016 20:49:49 GMT

Adrian... bumping on the same day? There you go another bump. Just wondering, do you know this document:

https://www.esri.com/library/whitepapers/pdfs/estimating-cost-gis-cloud.pdf

Re: How much do people normally pay for Amazon Web Services?

AdrianWelsh — Wed, 27 Jul 2016 21:15:19 GMT

Thanks Xander. That is a nice document. I'll have to go through it and see what kind of estimates I can make out of it.

Though... I was kind of hoping for a real cut and dry answer of "less than $$$ a month" or something similar. I just need to know what I may expect for a max monthly bill, basically. So, I'll look through that document some more.

Thanks again!

Re: How much do people normally pay for Amazon Web Services?

RebeccaStrauch__GISP — Wed, 27 Jul 2016 21:21:37 GMT

I'm not really sure how all this fits in, but I went to a lunch time session at the UC re: Amazon WorkSpaces - Virtual Desktops in the Cloud Pretty new I think, and I haven't had anytime to research it more. But I think it is more on the Desktop side of things than Server. I was very hesitant to try cloud computing in the past, and work never allowed it, but now they have opened that door a crack, so who knows.

But one comment (from my limited knowledge, and having not reviewed the pdf yet), the month cost probably depends on what you are doing, since part of the advantage is to resize on demand, depending on your needs....and I think cost will reflect that.

Re: How much do people normally pay for Amazon Web Services?

AdrianWelsh — Wed, 27 Jul 2016 21:38:12 GMT

Thanks Rebecca. That is interesting. But, I think you're right - it does look more to be like a desktop solution of sorts, versus a server solution. Looking at the FAQs on what is Amazon WorkSpaces:

Amazon WorkSpaces is a managed desktop computing service in the cloud. Amazon WorkSpaces allows customers to easily provision cloud-based desktops that allow end-users to access the documents, applications and resources they need on supported devices including Windows and Mac computers, Chromebooks, iPads, Kindle Fire tablets, and Android tablets. With a few clicks in the AWS Management Console, customers can provision a high-quality cloud desktop experience for any number of users at a cost that is competitive with traditional desktops and half the cost of most Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) solutions.

I can see this being beneficial for things like Chromebooks and tablets that do not come equipped with lots of memory or horsepower.

I would agree that the monthly cost of a server would depend on how much data is stored and how much processing is taking place. I am just kind of lazy at the moment and haven't dug into some mock numbers on what it can cost.

I wonder if others on this board can share their numbers and how much they spend, roughly.

Thanks again.

Re: How much do people normally pay for Amazon Web Services?

XanderBakker — Wed, 27 Jul 2016 21:42:56 GMT

In this related thread: Estimated Cost of Hosting ArcGIS for Server on Amazon EC2 (Cloud) there is also a link to the estimator: Amazon Web Services Simple Monthly Calculator

Re: How much do people normally pay for Amazon Web Services?

RebeccaStrauch__GISP — Wed, 27 Jul 2016 21:44:35 GMT

I see the Desktop version also being handy for those times that you have analysis that will take 8 weeks, over three machines (I have that on occasion). That is why I was interested in it. At the session, the ArcGIS Desktop option was still a pretty new concept, and with this, and for the Server for that mater, ArcGIS licensing is one of the big issues. I think Server is a bit easier, but Desktop (or Pro) can be problematic if the virtual machine expires and/or has other issues. Checkout may or may not work well for this. Anyway, something worth watching for, in my opinion.

Re: How much do people normally pay for Amazon Web Services?

SubuSwaminathan1 — Wed, 27 Jul 2016 23:00:01 GMT

I feel esri server licensing is more confusing or unexplained for the cloud. How does esri compute how many cores are running for how long. I could want to have 40 cores running server for 2 days and then downsize to 4 cores. Repeat this cycle every weekend for processing. How will that translate to license usage calculation per month or by annually?

Desktop licensing either by named user or the traditional per seat licensing model might actually be a better fit and easier to understand or plan with for the smaller esri customers.

Subu

Re: How much do people normally pay for Amazon Web Services?

RebeccaStrauch__GISP — Wed, 27 Jul 2016 23:24:26 GMT

Desktop licensing either by named user or the traditional per seat licensing model might actually be a better fit and easier to understand or plan with for the smaller esri customers.

The named Pro licenses thru Online would be easier, it's the concurrent use or single-use that will be an issue. Since those either need to be able to access a license manager (i.e. needs access to your network), or you need to borrow (and return) a license, or authorize/deauthorize it, the issue would come in if something happens to the virtual desktop before cancelling the "borrow" or deauthorizing. Not impossible to recover (especially if you limit the time of borrowing), but could require tech-supprt/customer-service if can't get back into the virtual desktop. Same thing happens if a field laptop gets fried, etc. So, I think the concept is easier, but those are the things that are still to be determined....or at least that wasn't yet figured out at the lunch time meeting at the UC. But I don't really know how the Server works either, although I think you pay some prorated server cost ???

Re: How much do people normally pay for Amazon Web Services?

SubuSwaminathan1 — Wed, 27 Jul 2016 23:44:51 GMT

I could not get an answer from esri on Server licensing to plan a deployment in AWS or Azure that makes use of the cloud flexibility such as resizing number of cores per server or by cluster. "No of cores per license" is an outdated model for the cloud. One core could be very feeble or very powerful. If anybody has had better luck planning or actually deploying, please share.

Any desktop licensing hiccups are much cheaper to recover from than an enormous server licensing bill.

Re: How much do people normally pay for Amazon Web Services?

AdrianWelsh — Thu, 28 Jul 2016 17:25:16 GMT

Xander Bakker,

The cost calculator is a great idea! Thanks for sharing that. However, like Subu mentioned, it's really hard to estimate how much usage I would be using and I am pretty lost when I start looking at all the options on the calculator... Though, I like its title of "SIMPLE MONTHLY CALCULATOR". Haha!

I also agree with what y'all said about licensing and how server should behave versus desktop, etc...

Xander, I also just saw this

Adrian... bumping on the same day?

The original post was 20+ days ago

Re: How much do people normally pay for Amazon Web Services?

XanderBakker — Thu, 28 Jul 2016 18:16:35 GMT

Hi Adrian Welsh , you are absolutely right! I must have looked at the wrong date (last update) instead of the date it was posted. Sorry!

I totally agree that the "Simple monthly calculator" is far from "simple". However, it exists and I thought I would share this...